Eggs may be poached by cracking them from their shells and then simmering them gently in a cooking fluid, such as a pan of water. However, the raw white of the egg has a tendency to disperse in the water. Egg poachers are popular devices to facilitate in the preparation of poached eggs. While known egg poaches differ in appearance and construction, they typically comprise a cup-shaped receptacle that is designed to contain or coddle the egg so as to prevent it from contacting the water. The receptacle is either suspended in the water by engagement with a framework over the pan, or else is allowed to float freely in the pan. While such a known device may prevent the dispersal of the raw egg white, the finished item is often overly firm, sometimes described as “rubbery” in texture, and is of a completely regular shape (i.e. that of the receptacle). Therefore, the use of this type of known device causes the egg white to lose the delicateness that is associated with a poached egg, because it is generally being cooked by a contacting surface which is heated by the water instead of the heated water itself. Some competitors attempt to get around this by implementing a mesh-based “vessel” design, but the egg tends to cling to the mesh, resulting in a damaged egg with a mess left to clean.